


The Creep

by CynicalGinger



Category: Yandere Simulator (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Stalking, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-22 08:08:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6071587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynicalGinger/pseuds/CynicalGinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Yandere-chan destroys her rivals, someone unexpected is keeping an eye on her every move.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Yandere Simulator fic that wouldn't leave my brain alone until I wrote it. Proper notes are at the end of the fic.

I don’t know what it feels like to be satisfied.

 

When I look at the world, sometimes it feels like I’m completely cut off from it. I look at everyone around me and they all seem so absorbed in their lives. I don’t mean that in a negative way. They care about what’s going on. If something bad happens, they feel sad or angry or confused. If something good happens, they feel joy and excitement. They know how it feels to be enraptured, to have goals and dreams and desires.

 

I don’t.

 

I don’t remember if I ever did. All I know is that one day I realised that I felt numb to almost everything. I tried, I really did. I tried so hard to find something that I felt passionate about. I took up track. I tried gardening. I learned how to knit. I took cooking classes. I studied harder than anyone else in my class. I went walking near really pretty gardens and shrines. I read books and manga, went to the cinema and watched anime, played way too many computer games and stayed up way too late browsing through internet chat rooms.

 

Nothing worked.

 

Eventually, I just settled into a comfortable routine. I went to school, did my extracurricular activities, and studied. If I had too much time on my hands, I would hang out with my sister. She dragged me to go shopping and visit little cafes. I appreciated it, really. My sister was trying her best to make me happy, and I wasn’t unhappy. So I could pretend that everything was fine. I was a good girl. There was nothing wrong with me and my life was fulfilling, even though I was always so eager to get to bed so I didn’t have to pretend I wasn’t horribly bored by my life.

 

From an outside perspective, things couldn’t have been better. I was doing really well in school and my best friend was nagging me for not putting in any effort with her. Our parents were friends, and we had known each other for so long that it didn’t matter how disconnected I was, Osana would come and try to get me to hang out with her. I guess it was her way of trying to make sure things were still fine. So she came to give me her usual tsundere as hell speech about how she didn’t care what I did but could I please not be rude, and I noticed something weird. There was this girl hiding behind the tree close to the fountain. I barely caught a glimpse of her face as she peeked out and hid again. I stared blankly and gave no indication that I had seen her, but I was curious. Had I seen her before? No, I would’ve remembered. I was so sure that I didn’t know her.

 

Throughout the week I noticed her appearing out of the corner of my eye. It was never for long. If I stopped suddenly or made to turn around she would disappear. For a little while I wondered if my stalker was a ghost. Maybe the occult club had managed to dredge up something interesting after all. The thought of being haunted by some unknown spirit made me smile. At least it was something interesting, right?

 

Well, not quite. I eventually managed to get a better look at my stalker. Near the end of the week, I noticed her sneaking into the Cooking Club. I mean properly sneaking. She was crouched and moving carefully around the counters. Her dark hair was swept up into a tight pony tail and her gaze was a blank mask of concentration. I kept out of her line of sight and watched in fascination as she quietly swiped a knife from the knife stand. I noticed as her hand grasped around the knife’s handle that she was wearing these weird white gloves, like the drama club sometimes used. She quickly concealed the blade and crept back towards the door.

 

I sprinted to the courtyard. My heart was thudding as I sat by the fountain and caught my breath, wondering why I wasn’t more afraid. I wondered why the thought of that girl coming after me with a knife didn’t make me want to phone the police or tell a teacher. Instead, a part of me – a big part of me – wanted her to come find me. I wanted to see what she would do. I wanted to know what exactly was going on inside her head.

 

The minutes ticked by as I waited for her to find me. I was greeted by a tranquil silence and nothing else. I couldn’t understand what was taking her so long. Was she stupid? Had she just not seen me? Or, and I thought about this with a weird kind of anticipation, maybe I wasn’t her target. I waited until fifteen minutes before school closed before I gave up and went back to my locker. I saw the cooking club file out… and then I heard a scream from outside.

 

I dropped my books and ran to the sound of the disturbance. There, lying face-down in a pool of blood was Osana. I stood frozen and watched as one of the cooking club girls ran off to get a teacher. I couldn’t yell or scream or do any of the things the other girls were doing. I just stood there looking at the body and wondering why the hell I couldn’t feel anything at the death of a girl I had known my whole life. One of the cooking club girls put her arm round me and led me away, telling me not to look. I think she was trying to be supportive, but there was nothing she could do. Osana was dead, and I didn’t care. I think I looked horrified, but I couldn’t tell.

 

As the cooking club girl took me away from Osana’s body, I noticed a flash of light from the ground beside the pool of blood. I knew. I knew before I heard anything from any of the police officers that it was a knife. I didn’t need to wait for the police to tell me that the knife had the fingerprints of one of the cooking club girls on it and that it was the murder weapon.

 

What I didn’t tell the police was that I knew exactly who the real killer was. There was no way to prove it, and in any case, I didn’t really want to do anything about it. My regular shadow was back, and her presence made me feel warmth inside. I wasn’t sure why the hell she was interested in me, or why she had wanted to kill Osana. But I knew in my gut that I wanted to know more than anything, and I wasn’t going to get any answers by telling someone that I had seen the girl take the murder weapon. Nobody questioned my silence, and it turned out that the girl from the cooking club whose finger prints were on the blade had spilled soy sauce on her shirt and had left to change into her gym wear. She didn’t have an alibi, and with no cameras to back up her insistence that she had gone straight to the locker room to wash up and change, she looked guilty. I didn’t tell them that the girl with the bright yellow hair was the one to hug me and lead me away from the body. I didn’t tell them that she had been so very, very gentle and kind as she sat with me and tried her best to give me comfort I didn’t need. There was no point. Not when I had something more interesting to contend with.

 

_

 

Osana’s death was sudden, bloody and violent. I lay awake at night for the next week thinking about it. The memory of her blood on the ground left me captivated. I couldn’t stop thinking about that girl either – the killer, the real killer. I stuck to my normal routine, and yet I didn’t see her for the rest of the week. Occasionally I thought I saw a ponytail disappearing behind a corner, but that was all. With everything so quiet, I began to wonder if I had imagined her. Things went back to normal surprisingly quickly. Osana’s conspicuously empty seat next to mine was the only real reminder that she was dead. That aside, everything felt disappointingly normal. I felt the same old dissatisfaction creeping up on me.

 

For the next few weeks, things were relatively quiet. I overheard a cluster of girls talking about a classmate missing a lot of school, which was an indication that the rumour mill was out of news. The only other piece of gossip that seemed to be fluttering around was that another girl had struck up a relationship with some guy. Then, three weeks after the death of Osana, I noticed this girl following me. She wasn’t my regular stalker. I knew this girl, or at least I knew of her. Her name was Kokona Haruka. She was in my year. It would be hard to miss her. Kokona had dark pink hair styled into two drill curls and a pair of massive breasts. There was more to her than that, of course. She was the president of the drama club and an incredible social butterfly. We weren’t friends, but she spoke to me sometimes and always seemed friendly enough. In any case, I noticed that Kokona was spending a lot of time around me. I noticed her taking lunch breaks near the fountain I liked to sit at and creeping behind the tree in the courtyard to peek out at me. That was really strange, but I came to the damn fountain for peace and I wasn’t going to go elsewhere just because someone else wanted to creep around.

 

Kokona spent the next few days eating lunch at her bench near me. Occasionally I would look up and see her eating happily. She was cute, I supposed. There were worse girls to have in my personal space. Creep or no, she was quiet.

 

At least, Kokona was quiet until she started choking.

 

I watched, rooted to the spot as Kokona coughed and spluttered and caught at her throat. Her eyes bulged wide as she tried in vain to cough up whatever had stuck in her throat, but to no avail. She fell to her knees and then her body gave way as she passed out, hands falling limply to her side. I breathed in slowly as I tried to process what I had just seen. There was no way Kokona was alive, not now. I gripped the edge of the fountain as I looked around. Was she here? I wondered. Was the girl with the pony tail here? My breath caught in my throat as I heard what sounded like giggling coming from a short distance away. Yes, it was her. I knew in my gut that it was her. I felt a warm, genuine smile of delight stretch across my mouth. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I never for a moment doubted that Kokona’s death was for me. It was a gift, or a warning, or both. However it was intended, to me it felt like an act of possession. She was like a cat, killing and dropping the corpse in front of her human. I didn’t allow myself to wonder exactly how she had managed it. The urge to run after her and demand answers was overwhelming. Instead, I took in another deep breath and screamed as loudly as I could. I bolted to the nearest classroom, screaming incoherently about a dead body. When the teacher finally made sense of what I was telling her, she followed me back to the body and called the police. She sent me to the nurse’s office to be comforted by the very attractive nurse on duty. I cried into her chest as she comforted me and told me, “Shhh, it’s going to be okay.”

 

I had to keep crying hysterically to stop myself from laughing. Where was all of this joy coming from? I hadn’t known that it would feel so _good_ to watch people die for me. Someone, some awful, amoral person was killing people who got too close to me. I didn’t have to lift a finger. The thought of someone having that much devotion for me, of having that much obsession for me as to kill for me… was it love? Was the way my heart was beating fast and the colour in my cheeks love? It wasn’t the kind of love people spoke about, not to me.

 

This wasn’t an even footing or a carefully built partnership or lust blossoming into something more. I wanted her, but I wanted her because she wanted me more than anything. She wanted me enough to prove how much she wanted me, and that made me want her more than anything. I thought about some of the romance novels I had read about knights who served their queens loyally, not because they were close but because they adored their queen more than anything. I had read about ‘courtly love’ before, and it seemed to be written off as a longing for an unattainable woman. This wasn’t the same thing, but it was impossible for my mind to ignore the connection. I was like a distant queen, and this woman was my protector. She would kill for me. She would methodically hunt anyone she deemed unworthy. Without knowing me she had decided that I was worthy of her longing. I felt that she had decided she wanted my love so much she was willing to do anything to get it.

 

Wasn’t that a kind of love? People said things like “I would do anything for you” all the time, but how often did they really mean it? How often was someone seriously willing to kill for another human being? I couldn’t imagine doing something like that. Not unless I wanted someone. Not unless I loved that person more than anything else. Not unless I felt that nothing mattered as long as I could be with that person.

 

That night, I lay awake once again. I stared at the ceiling and put my hand on my chest, feeling the way my heart thudded. I stifled a giggle and pressed my face into my pillow, smothering my grin. For the first time in my life, I was in love. I was in love with a ruthless woman who was willing to kill to keep me, and for the first time I could remember, I felt like I was closer to a complete human being than an empty shell.

 

_

 

The next few weeks were interesting, to say the least. Things were slowly becoming more and more chaotic around Academi High. The weird girl who ran the occult club – Oka Ruto, I thought her name was – committed suicide. I overheard the Basu sisters gossiping about how she was a creepy stalker and everyone had turned on her because someone posted information about Oka’s stalking habits online. Then, get this, the very next week a teacher was fired. Nobody could prove it, but the rumour mill was ablaze with stories passed on by suspicious students about affairs with female pupils and incriminating photographs. I had to admit, I would have given a lot to know exactly how that staff meeting went down. The week after was quiet, or at least it was until Friday. The Occult club disbanded after Oka’s suicide, so it took a little while for anyone to go into the old room they used to use and find the decapitated head just lying on the floor in the middle of a circle of candles. All of the previous Occult club members were officially suspects, and let me tell you, none of them could have pulled off something that brutal. They didn’t have the nerve. If the Occult club ever summoned a real demon, they wouldn’t know what to do with it.

 

Suffice to say, school was an interesting place to be. I had started smiling genuinely and found myself looking forward to the strange chaos each week would bring. Unfortunately, I fell ill. What a time to get sick. I dragged myself into school every day because I didn’t want to miss anything, but I kept getting sent to the nurse’s office. It wasn’t a bad place to be. She recognised me from before, and was flirtatious and friendly. Once upon a time, I would have gladly started a torrid affair with the school nurse. Now I was wondering what would happen to her. I smiled and chatted and played innocent. I saw the girl pass by the nurse’s office several times each day. She never stopped, but I knew she was here because of me. More than that, I knew that I had marked the school nurse for death, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out. How would she kill a faculty member with a witness in the room?

 

On a particularly quiet morning, I got my answer.

 

Slow, shuffling feet clumped along the corridor. They stopped outside the Nurse’s office door before it slid open and someone stumbled into the room. It took me a moment to recognise the girl, but I recalled listening to students talking about a missing student. This had to be her. Her eyes were dead and blank, as if somebody had drained all of her vitality. In her right hand she held a katana, a gleaming steel katana. The nurse screamed as the girl lunged towards her and stabbed her with the katana. Blood sprayed everywhere as the girl kept stabbing the nurse. Blood began to pool on the floor and the nurse, though she tried to struggle, eventually collapsed onto the bloody floor and stared at the ceiling lights with glassy, lifeless eyes. The girl took one second to look at the corpse before she pulled the katana from it and aimed the blade very carefully at her forehead. I stared at the girl as she rammed her head into the sword with as much force as she could muster. For a moment she stood there, blood trickling down her face and katana lodged through her skull. Then she fell, first to her knees, then on top of the nurse’s body.

 

I couldn’t stop staring at the macabre tableau in front of me. My blood was coursing through my body and I couldn’t make myself move. In its own way, the murder-suicide was beautiful. It had been meticulously planned out. No witnesses, except myself, and in theory nobody to know anything about the real culprit. All I had seen was one girl who had been missing for weeks turn up and stab the school nurse. It was the most elaborate declaration of love I had ever witnessed. Carefully, I peeled off my covers and stumbled to the councillor’s office. I had to tell someone what I had seen, but I could still barely walk without my head spinning. Anyone with any sense would be at home, I thought to myself as I collapsed in the doorway of the councillor’s office.

 

_

 

The police couldn’t understand how the missing girl had gone from a sweet high school student to a vicious killer in so short a space of time. Nobody knew where she had been, and the assumption was that the girl had been planning the attack for a long time before she acted. The rumour mill churned out one explanation after the next: they had been lovers, the nurse had stolen the girl’s boyfriend, the girl was having an affair with the nurse’s husband… they went on and on. I listened with interest to one sordid tale after another. I made sure that I always seemed to be concerned and horrified, even though I wanted to laugh at them all. There was only one person who had the power to pull something like that off, and she was keeping her distance. I spent a lot of time on my own, waiting to feel her watching me. Sometimes I could see her silhouette, leaning against the railings on the school roof. I knew she was watching me. I knew that she would strike if anyone came near me. I might not see it, but I would know. I would always know. I was hers, and although she might not have known it yet, she was mine.

 

We had a short grace period. Nothing much was going on, and then the impossible happened. My sister, who was well known for being more than a little bit clingy, announced to me that she had a date with a very handsome boy from school. I couldn’t believe it. Years of saying that she just wanted to hang out with her big sister and didn’t have time for boys had given way to asking for make-up advice and spending the money from her part-time job on sexy underwear. Stunned as I was, I at least had the sense of self to be happy for her. I was genuinely happy that my sister had found someone. “Love changes you.” I told her as we sat on her bed together, looking through clothes for her date. “You think that you’ll never find someone who’s just what you needed, and then you do and it changes everything.”

 

“Eh? Sis, don’t tell me you’ve found a boyfriend too?”

 

I shook my head. “No. Not a boyfriend.”

 

“A girlfriend?” My sister sounded shocked. “You know mum and dad are weird about that stuff.”

 

I shrugged my shoulders and picked up a blue dress to examine in better light. “They’re weird about lots of stuff.” I didn’t tell her that it didn’t matter what our parents thought. I was in love, and the person I was in love with would do anything for me. That wasn’t the kind of love I would get if I married some guy I met at college or found an ordinary woman to date. No normal person would slaughter everyone they met just for me. Nobody else would paint the ground red with the blood of anyone who stood in our way. Maybe that wasn’t what love was supposed to be. I didn’t care. This feeling, this longing and sheer joy, was worth more than any twee shojo manga romance I might find anywhere else. This was bloody and brutal and magnificent.

 

My sister still looked worried, but she was quickly distracted by the dress in my hands. “That’s perfect!” She said. She pulled the dress from my hands and yanked it over her head. “I look so pretty!”

 

The dress was wrinkled at the hem and needed ironing, but my sister’s face was radiant. Any boy would be lucky to have her. “He’ll fall in love with you at once.” I said. I meant it. I wanted my sister to be happy. Even if her happiness wasn’t the same as what I felt, I wanted her to know that she didn’t need to cling to me all the time. If I of all people could find overwhelming love, my sister definitely could. “Now, have you thought about what you want to do with your hair?”

 

_

 

In the week after my sister’s date, everything seemed quiet. My knight was still hiding from me, but I felt like she was becoming bolder now. She walked right past me when I was sitting at the fountain, and although she kept her head down I thought I could see her smiling. She really was pretty when she smiled. I thought about her smiling as she saw the destruction and death she had caused across the school.

 

As my knight passed by I imagined that she was walking past me covered in blood, a knife in her right hand and that same smile on her face. She would look beautiful in blood. If she turned to look at me with that smile, I knew I would kiss her, and I would tell her how wonderful she was. How glorious. How she was mine, and I was hers, and we were meant for each other. How I knew that she would drown everyone we knew in a pool of their own blood if it made us safe, if it meant that we could be together. How I knew this wasn’t how people were meant to love but that I loved her and I would gladly stand by and hold her secrets in my heart. How I knew with every fibre of my being that I would rather die than see her kill for anyone but us, and how I knew that she would rather die than see me with anyone else.

 

My knight knew that I was hers, and I knew that she would come to me soon. It was just a matter of time.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for being so lovely and so patient. Things have been really hectic because of Uni, but I have now finished the last part of this fic!

With my sister was distracted by her new boyfriend, I had some time to do some investigating. Instead of relaxing by the fountain, I asked around to see if anyone knew who my stalker was. I found quite varied reports of her depending on who I spoke to. She seemed multi-talented, and had at various points belonged to several of the school’s clubs. She didn’t seem to be on particularly bad terms with anyone, but she also didn’t seem to have any close friends. The only slight exceptions to the rule were the delinquents who hung out near the furnace. True, they weren’t particularly forthcoming with information. In fact, one of the girls shoved me out of the way when she thought I was too close to her, and that was about as close to a conversation as I could get out of them. I heard them sniggering as I left, and I thought I heard some of them muttering about “little sis has weird taste”, but I couldn’t be sure.

 

What I did know was that she had carried out favours and complimented people and spread a flurry of gossip all over the school. On the whole, my knight seemed to have cultivated a nice reputation for herself as a quiet, helpful classmate who was very honest about other people’s behaviour. “That’s all very interesting,” I said to Saki Miyu, “but does she have a name?”

 

Saki’s eyes widened and she laughed at her previous enthusiastic chatter. “Oh, her name is Ayano Aishi, but nobody really calls her ‘Ayano’. Most of us call her Yan!”

 

“Ayano Aishi.” Her name was lovely, I thought. I liked sounding it out in my head. “Do you know where she hangs out?”

 

“Oh, she’s always running around.” Saki’s voice became quieter. “She’s always running around and trying to find stuff to do, you know? I hardly ever see Yan without cleaning supplies. And she does track when she’s got time. And she’s always asking people if they need anything done, or telling them that they look lovely…” Saki trailed off. “When Kokonah was… before she… you know. Yan was so nice. That whole week she made sure to be nice to Kokonah. I just, like, figured that she was kind of weird before that week. But she changes what she’s doing to do nice things for people. So… I don’t know where she’ll be right now, or later.” Saki cleared her throat and tried to smile convincingly. “Maybe you should leave her a note! You know, in her locker!”

 

I smiled at Saki and hoped that it looked warm and friendly. Underneath her concealer, her eyes were pink from constantly crying. It wasn’t my business, and it had no impact on me either way, but I didn’t want her to think I didn’t care about her troubles. I really couldn’t have cared less about Saki’s problems, but that was beside the point. Being enamoured with a murderer was one thing, but pointless rudeness was quite another. “Thanks Saki. That’s a really good idea. I’ll go do that now.” I left as quickly as I could without being abrasive, positive that I wasn’t being followed (for once). It wasn’t hard to find Yan’s locker. I just had to ask one of the friendly sports club people to point it out to me, and there I was. I thought about picking the lock with one of my hairpins, but lock picking wasn’t something that I had picked up on my earlier search for fulfilment. I pulled a pen and paper from my locker, and then found myself paused in front of Yan’s locker. What should I say to her? _Meet me beneath the cherry blossom tree on Friday after class?_ No, I couldn’t sound too presumptuous. _Yan, the thought of you makes me sleepless?_ Not a chance. That was too forward for an anonymous note.

 

The right words came to me and I smiled at my own thoughts. I quickly scribbled the note and slid it into Yan’s locker and bolted back to my classroom. My legs were shaking. I stumbled to my seat and gripped onto the edges of my desk, knuckles turning white from the pressure. I had done it. I had done it and there was no going back after this point.

 

_I know what you are, and I understand you._

 

I knew, I understood, and I loved Ayano Aishi more than I could put into words. And if she didn’t invite me to stand under the school cherry blossom tree on the hill and confess her undying love for me, I was going to have to take matters into my own hands.

 

As it happened, I didn’t have too long to wait for a response to my letter. It was still far too long for someone as impatient as me, but come Friday morning, I had a note in my locker inviting me to stand underneath the cherry tree after class. The day couldn’t go by quickly enough, and by the time class ended at half past three I practically leapt from my chair and bolted to the nearest bathroom. I was meant to be meeting my ‘anonymous’ admirer at half past four. That left me half an hour to check my appearance in the bathroom mirror, brush the dust off my uniform and re-plait my hair. I pondered asking one of the girls I knew for some make-up, but I decided against it. Yan had seen horrific things. I highly doubted that she would object to my natural face.

 

I slipped out of the bathroom and walked towards the cherry tree. I kept my pace as slow and steady as possible, but I found that my legs were shaking again and keeping my composure was more difficult than I could ever have anticipated. Somehow I managed to make my way over to the tree, looking more or less like I was in control of all my functions. I wasn’t. I was nowhere near as in control as I would have liked to be. But I was underneath the cherry blossom tree, and I could see Yan approaching. My heart fluttered in my chest as I watched her come closer. Her head was bowed, and her hands were fidgeting the way they did whenever she was around me. She was so cute. There wasn’t a thing about her I didn’t adore, from her grey eyes to her calloused hands to her brightly polished shoes.

 

Yan came to a halt in front of me. She raised her head and looked at me, as if she was seeing me in a whole new light. I smiled dazzlingly.

 

Yan blushed and bowed her head again. “Yamada…” she began. “I… I know that this is the first time we’ve spoken, but…”

 

I took pity on her. “My name is Hanako. Please, it would make me very happy if you would call me that.”

 

Yan nodded, and her fidgeting hands stilled.

 

“And, if you don’t think it’s too forward, it would make me very happy if you would let me know what to call you.”

 

Yan blushed. “Of course. My name is Ayano Aishi. You can call me Ayano or Yan. ‘Yan’ is what most people… it’s my nickname.”

 

“Yan… Ayano is a beautiful name, but so is Yan.”

 

“Then please. Call me Yan.” Yan seemed to gain confidence from my words and she smiled at me as she spoke. “Hanako, I asked you to meet me here because I want to confess my feelings for you.”

 

“I have something to confess to you too, Yan.” I said. I closed the distance between us and I took her hands in mine. “I know what you are.” A look of utter horror crossed Yan’s face and I savoured it, I savoured the knowledge that my words had the power to destroy us both in an instant. “I know what you’ve been doing. I saw you weeks ago, I saw you sneak into the cookery club. I know that girl was innocent. I know what you did to them all.”

 

“I… I can explain!” Yan tried to say, but I interrupted her.

 

“I knew it was you, I knew you were stalking me, I knew you were keeping everyone away.” I could feel Yan’s hands trembling. I brought them to my lips and kissed them softly. “Don’t mistake me, Yan. I know what you are and I love you. You make me feel loved and desired.”

 

At that Yan started to sob and hugged me. I held her as she cried and kissed her head. “My love. My Yan.” I held Yan in my arms for what felt like an age. My uniform was damp with her tears by the time I let her go. I kissed her on the forehead and saw her smile. Yan’s smile was so beautiful. I hardly ever saw her smile, but when she smiled at me it put every scenic park or shrine I had ever visited to shame. Knowing that I was the thing that made her so happy, knowing that this woman felt so much because of me… it felt wonderful.

 

“I love you too.” Yan said. “I want us to be together. I want us to be girlfriends. And I want us to be together, whatever happens.”

 

I could picture my life with Yan ending in various different ways. Things were improving for people like us. We could live together, maybe even have a child. Maybe if laws changed, we could get married. I pictured us both living a happy domestic life. Maybe we’d run away somewhere nobody knew us and start over, just us two against the world.  Maybe we could both go to a university and get away from home that way. Yan could deal with anyone who got in our way. I could provide a very convincing alibi.

 

Creeps like us belonged together. 

 

_

 

That should have been our very own happily ever after, but of course, life got in the way of that. More specifically, my parents got in the way of our happiness. I introduced them to Yan as my friend, but my mum thought there was something off about her. My dad didn’t really notice anything, he was too busy giving my little sister’s boyfriend the evil eyes and telling my sister very loudly that she should be back at a reasonable time and that in his day she wouldn’t have been allowed out of the house in an outfit like that. It was the usual nonsense he spouted whenever he thought one of us was out of line. Things could have gone on quite easily if I hadn’t heard my parents talking one night. My mum was telling my dad that she thought Yan was creepy and she didn’t trust her around me. She was a ‘bad girl’.

 

Well, my mum wasn’t wrong. She was far closer to the truth than she realised. But she didn’t hate Yan because she was a killer. I wasn’t even sure that she hated Yan because she wasn’t good at talking to most people or had once been part of the delinquent’s little gang that hung around at the school incinerator. No, my mum hated Yan because she was far too close to me, both physically and emotionally. Yan liked to sit as close to me as she could, and we were always holding hands or cuddling together and it made my mum feel record levels of discomfort. I had known that she would be weird about Yan if she knew that in this murderous young woman I had found my other half. I just didn’t expect her to scrutinise every move I made from that point onwards.

 

Of course, I couldn't let my parents win. I refused to give up Yan. Everybody thought she was the sweetest girl in school, if a bit awkward. Everybody thought that I was a perfect student, if a bit insular at times. I was furious with my parents for not getting it. Yan and I were the perfect couple. I didn't expect them to understand the reality of the situation. I didn't expect them to understand us as we really were, but the least they could do was look the other way for our happiness. For my happiness.

 

Sadly, neither of them quite got the memo.

 

My mother was the one to broach the subject of me finding some other friends - "What about those sweet girls from school dear? Ayano is a bit... odd. Wouldn't you be better off with some other friends?" I couldn't tell her that Yan was more than a friend. I couldn't even tell her that Yan was my future, or that being with her felt like I had found a piece of my destiny that had previously been hidden from me for years. She wouldn't understand. So I smiled, nodded at her, and made sure that I appeared to be every inch the dutiful daughter. Then I asked to be excused from the dinner table to do my homework upstairs. I kept my smile in place until I was safely in my room. The second I gently closed the door I was shaking with anger. I had never felt such rage before. How could she? How could she dare?

 

I sat at my desk with my head in my hands. I could barely think about anything calmly, let alone homework. Somehow I struggled through the chapters I had been assigned for the next day, and then I looked at my phone. Yan had sent me a picture of herself in a cute wig, and the sight of her made me smile. I forgot for a moment that my mother was being so utterly unreasonable, until I realised that without parental approval, I wouldn't be able to see Yan properly. Unless...

 

Unless my parents were no longer a problem.

 

I sent Yan a photo of me in my PJs. /Sleep now. See you tomorrow, usual place. :)/

 

I set the alarm on my phone and got into bed, mind whirring. There had to be a way out of this unfortunate situation, but I would need help.

 

_

 

I met Yan in the cooking club at lunch. Nobody tended to use it during break, so it was relatively easy to sneak in. It was too short a time to do much, but we could exchange kisses in relative privacy, and that was more than we could get anywhere else in the school. The roof might have seemed like a more obvious choice, but if anyone walked in on us up there, it would be immediately obvious what we had been doing. Yan was a member of the cooking club, and she was always making food. It wasn't odd for her to be there, and everybody knew that we were an item. It made sense for us to be there together.

 

Yan followed me into the room and shut the sliding door behind her. Without saying a word she kissed me, her nose crinkling beautifully as she smiled up at me. I held her face in my hands and returned her kiss, thinking about how beautiful this woman was, and how much I stood to lose if I was anything less than careful. "Yan." I said. "Would you do anything for me?"

 

"Yes." Yan answered me without hesitation.

 

"Even if it meant getting rid of someone?"

 

There was a steely determination in Yan's eyes as she said, "I would kill anybody for you. I would kill everyone in school if you wanted it. If I had to. There's nobody I wouldn't kill to protect our love."

 

This was why I loved her. I was overcome with Yan's words, and I kissed her harshly, pushing her against the worktop. "My parents don't approve of you." I said, in-between kisses. "My mother wants me to find other friends. My father will side with her, my sister will want me to be happy." I looked up at Yan and saw her rapt expression as she listened to me condemning my parents to death. "I want them gone."

 

Yan kissed my head and hugged me, stroking my hair as she thought. "Your sister's going to that concert next weekend, right?"

 

"Right."

 

"Hm." Yan smiled serenely. "Leave it to me."

 

_

 

My beautiful, darling Yan planned everything to perfection.

 

I begged my mother to let me stay over at Yan's for the weekend. I feigned concern for how little time my parents had alone together, and she came round to the idea that it would do her and my father some good to have a quiet, romantic weekend to themselves while my sister and I were otherwise occupied. It was easy enough for me to loosen some of the wires around the house and make sure that my mother's sleeping pills were crushed into the wine she had bought for their night in. My parents both took sleeping pills sometimes - it wasn't much of a leap of imagination to suspect that they would be stupid enough to mix drugs and alcohol. And if an electrical appliance in the kitchen had been left on my mother (or switched on sneakily by Yan, who snuck in through an open window), well, it was just a tragic accident. It could have been avoided if my parents had taken more care with their medication, but by the time anyone noticed anything amiss, the house was ablaze with fire.

 

Neither Yan or I were suspects. Yan's mother was very convincing. They asked some questions about where we had been, just to follow protocol, and she duly reported that we had been there all night. She said that even though she knew Yan had left the house at least once. As she pointed out, "Neither of them could have left without me knowing, they were here all night watching TV shows... oh, that poor girl!"

 

Poor me indeed. My sister came home from her trip away to the news that she was now an orphan. When she came home, the first thing she did was collapse in my arms and weep. I comforted her as best as I could. I was elated. A massive weight had lifted from me, but it wouldn't do to let my dear sister know that. So I played the part. Yan's mother was so lovely - she let both of us stay and helped us make the arrangements for the funeral. There was not a thing out of place. I had no doubt that my mother would have approved of the simple Buddhist ceremony. My father wouldn't have cared either way, but I gave my performance as a grieving orphan. I was rather convincing, or so Yan told me later when everyone else was gone.

 

Luckily for me, my parents had planned for the possibility of their deaths and the house was insured. My sister and I were both due an inheritance. There was enough for us to live off of and then more for us to pay for our college fees and expenses. We could have lived together, but my sister didn't want to be an adult quite so quickly. Our aunt kindly decided to move nearer to the school, so that our education wouldn't be interrupted by the untimely demise of our parents. She worked from home, so it didn't really make much difference to her where she was doing her work. I was grateful that she was frequently busy. It meant that I could visit Yan as often as I pleased, and nobody asked any awkward questions. I was taking comfort in my best friend in my time of need. Nobody could doubt that I needed some time and space to grieve.

 

I didn't, naturally enough. But it was nice to have time and space to spend with Yan. No more of the silly hiding in the shadows for us. We still had to sneak around a bit, but my aunt didn't much care what I was getting up to, and I didn't see that it was any of her business whether my relationship with Yan was platonic or anything but. Yan was free to stay over at my aunt’s place whenever, and I was a frequent guest at the Aishi household. Yan’s mother made amazing meals, and was always full of chatter about this or that. She was easy to talk to. Yan’s father was more reserved, but he wasn’t ever openly hostile. Just under a lot of stress, I assumed. I could only imagine that he spent all his time striving to make life perfect for his wife. After all, his wife was so sweet and agreeable.

 

_

 

Sooner than I could have anticipated, it was time for me to think about what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Yan was staying at school for another year, and whilst I had been accepted to several universities there wasn’t one that I really wanted to go to. Instead, I opted to take some time out. My aunt and sister were both very understanding. They thought I was still badly shaken by my parents’ tragic accident, and that I needed some time to myself. In any case, it wasn’t as if I was being idle in the meantime. I had a part-time job in a wedding boutique, and I was learning a lot about designing and making clothing. I was surrounded by so many beautiful gowns, and I couldn’t help but dream about wearing one myself. In my spare time I would sketch Yan in various bridal outfits, sending her snaps of my work when I had a spare moment. I loved sending her my work. Whenever I saw her she would smile and blush and try to hide her face if I told her how beautiful she would look in white.

 

It was actually Yan who pointed me in the right direction. “You’re so good at this.” She told me one day, when we met up for a date in town. “Why don’t you do it for real?”

 

I had to admit, I was interested in the prospect. So I applied to a much different set of courses with a portfolio of my best work. I could easily afford the fees, and I had money enough to move out of my aunt’s house. Of course I would need my own place, with enough room for Yan.

 

I couldn’t very well leave Yan behind, now could I?

 

_

 

“Darling, I’m home!”

 

I swept into our gorgeous apartment, carefully stepping out of my heels and into my slippers. I shrugged out of my coat and hung it up before I headed for the kitchen. Yan was in the middle of preparing a delicious meal for us both, but she paused in her task to come and kiss me. “Welcome home. Let me get you something to drink while you relax.”

 

Yan bustled off to bring me some iced tea, and I looked around at our apartment appreciatively. My years at college and my busy networking had served me well. In five years, I had gone from an unknown to a recognised designer. My dresses were touted as romantic and made a big impact on the runway. I had just recently been approached to design the wedding dress of an infamous former idol. It was an exciting time, and through it all Yan had been by my side. Instead of making a career, she had supported me and taken on jobs wherever she could to help when I was starting up. Now that I was earning more than enough for both of us to live luxuriously, Yan stayed at home and kept our apartment pristine. She cooked, cleaned and made sure that I remembered to eat and sleep during intense projects. We could have afforded a housekeeper, but Yan insisted on doing it herself. She took pleasure in being my housekeeper, and she kept me very well. Despite the bags under my eyes, Yan still adored me as much as she had when we first met. I loved her more than I could properly articulate.

 

Yan set down my iced tea and bustled off to finish dinner, radiating an aura of contentment and cheerfulness. I sipped my drink and thought about the week ahead. In my bag along with some of the preliminary sketches for the wedding dress, I had hidden away a ring box. I had told Yan all that time ago that I wanted our engagement to be just right, and Yan never begrudged me romantic flair. My original plan had been for us to go away for the weekend, and while we were drinking champagne in our room after a luxurious spa day, I would propose properly.

 

Unfortunately, things had taken a different turn.

 

Yan called me to the table for dinner, and as I sat down Yan served me a plate of curry. She always served me before she helped herself. Yan got a kick out of seeing me enjoy her food, she had once explained to me. “How was your day darling? You were working with those new models, right?”

 

It was a fashion shoot for a magazine cover. The models were posing in various outfits I had made, the centrepiece being the bride’s dress. I was exceptionally proud of that one. It was light and dotted with pearls, so that even the slightest movement made the dress billow. The suit I had made to accompany it was nothing special – plain white, with a blue waistcoat. Wedding suits like that bored me, and I wasn’t happy that it was such a dull design. The model wearing it, however, kept telling me how much he liked it and how perfectly it fitted him. The bride was perfectly polite and professional, but the groom was an arrogant prat who thought it was acceptable to flirt with a designer because he was wearing her clothes. And oh, the man made my blood boil. Underneath my cool exterior and calm smile, I was seething.

 

There was nothing I could do about it, naturally. He was a popular model. It was better to just let it go, or so my co-workers would have told me.

 

“The shoot had a slight problem.”

 

“Oh?” Yan put down her cutlery as soon as she heard my tone of voice. “What went wrong?”

 

“The man who was modelling my suit had a poor attitude.” I gave a short laugh. “He had the audacity to flirt with me. In front of everyone, as if he was something special.”

 

All of the cheer drained from Yan. Her eyes became hard and steely, and I saw once more the beautiful killer I had fallen for so long ago. Those days felt so long ago, and we had been happy for so long they felt more like a dream. A dream I recalled fondly, certainly, but a dream all the same. Yan’s determination was a tangible reminder that anyone who sought to wreck our peace was not long for this world. “What a mistake.”

 

“Quite.” I agreed, filling my glass with wine. “He’s one of those playboy types. You know the ones. They’re loud, rude, obnoxious…”

 

“Does he drive one of those stupid sports cars?”

 

I thought for a moment. “Yes. I think it’s a red Acura…”

 

Some of the tension left Yan’s body and she managed a smile. “Well. It would be terrible if something were to go wrong. Those silly young men with their fast cars are an accident waiting to happen.”

 

If the model in question happened to have a horrible accident that weekend, well, that was just an unfortunate coincidence. And if Yan and I had to downgrade our plans to go away that weekend to a quiet night at home because Yan had an important errand to run, well who was I to deny the woman of my dreams anything?

 

After all, it didn’t matter how much time passed, or how happy we were the majority of the time. I fell in love with Yan because I knew exactly who and what she was. And creeps like us…

 

We always belong together.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this fic has been a really amazing experience! I hope that you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it. Thank you for taking time out to comment and leave kudos, it really means a lot to me.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is the result of way too much time spent wondering "but what if Senpai was an utter creep?" I loved churning this one out, and I might write more set in this universe in the future because I love the idea of Senpai being about as twisted as Yan. If you liked this, feel free to leave a comment!


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